Tales of Death
by Death's Disciple
Summary: Inspired by freakyanimegal456's "Plot Twist". Anna didn't die and she and Kratos live in Iselia with Lloyd thanks to a misterious boy but they don't remember anything about Cruxis. Will they regain their memories or will they live happily ever after?
1. Chapter 1

Me: New Story!!

Jack: Shit!

Me: Shut it! Now, my insanity shall reach Tales of Symphonia!

Mike: Shall I call our third resident psycho?

Me: Please do. And while you're at it, tell him to tell his sister to prepare as well.

Mike: Very well.

Me: I'll give the proper credit where it's due…this fic was inspired by "Plot Twist" by freakyanimegal456 and any similarities with that fic are probably intentional. Tales of Symphonia is property of Namco. Now, let's see what I can do to bring hell to this place… (Insert maniacal laughter)

Jack: Well…fuck.

* * *

"Darn it! There's no end in sight!" An auburn haired man yelled as he felled yet another one of his foes. Behind him stood a brunette woman with a bundle of clothes containing their son.

"Mama, I'm scared!" The three year-old wailed.

"It's ok, sweetie, your dad is really strong, he will protect us." The woman told the toddler, but her eyes belied her words…truth is she was worried stiff. They were so preoccupied by what was happening before them that they were not paying sufficient attention _behind_ them. A Desian had sneaked past the man and in one fell swoop removed the gem that the woman had encrusted in her hand.

"Anna!" The man yelled as the woman screamed in pain. She started to convulse and pulsate with foul energy. In a matter of moments she had turned into a giant monster. A dog-like creature whined and took the boy away. The woman turned monster turned and attacked the Desians around her and after they were dead or dying she turned against the man that had protected her. Meanwhile, at the edge of the clearing, a Desian lookout scoffed at the scene.

"Pathetic inferior beings."

"…That's not a nice thing to say…Half-elf." A small voice said from behind him.

"Wha-?" Was all that he got out before his head fell from his shoulders.

A small figure, that should hardly posses the skill or strength necessary to remove someone's head, gave a short snort and turned to see the man and woman. "…I know I'm not supposed to interfere…but…" He turned to see the boy knocked out and his gaze softened. "I will not deprive another child of his parents' love."

Back with the man and Anna. "Please…Kratos…Kill…Me." Anna said.

"Anna! I'm…sorry…" Kratos said and prepared himself. As he was about to charge he heard a shout of 'Resurrection!' and where moments before there was a monster now stood a woman again. "Anna!" He looked around frantically and only caught a glimpse of movement in the tree line but he could swear he saw a small boy's figure.

"Kratos? Where is Lloyd?" Anna asked weakly.

"He is over there with Noishe. Now…can you stand?" Kratos asked his wife. She attempted to, but found she didn't have enough strength. With a sigh Kratos called the dog-thingy to carry the exhausted woman while he himself carried their son. They ran through the forest until they reached a cabin with a dwarf outside.

"Hm?" The dwarf thought when he saw a man carrying a boy and the biggest…dog he had ever seen carrying a woman. "Can I help ya?" He asked. They approached him.

"Sir, please, my wife needs a Key Crest." The man pleaded him. The dwarf observed them.

"_Dirty clothes, fear in their eyes, the man keeps reaching for his sword whenever the wind moves the branches of the trees…they must have recently escaped from a human ranch."_ He thought. They heard a noise and the man was instantly on alert. "Quick! Come with me!" The dwarf said and pulled the animal inside and practically shoved them in a trapdoor.

"…Why did you help them, dwarf?" A voice asked so suddenly that the dwarf prayed to every god and goddess that he knew that they would be merciful. He turned slowly expecting to see a Desian, but what he got was a young boy that appeared to be transfixed by one of the swords on the wall. "Relax. If I wanted them captured or dead the floorboards would already be stained with their and your blood." The boy said with an air of confidence around him that made the dwarf sure that he was not boasting.

"Dwarven Vow number 2: Never abandon someone in need." He said. The boy turned his head to look at him and, even though his hair covered his eyes, he could tell he had an eyebrow cocked in amusement.

"…Impressive." He told the dwarf. "I'll be sure to remember your…generosity. But, you won't remember mine." The boy said and vanished like a memory or, for the dwarf, like a dream.

"What was I doing here?" The dwarf asked himself. Just then someone started banging on the door and the dwarf remembered the refugees he hid in his shelter.

"Open up or we will burn this house down!"

"Comin', comin'. Hold yer horses!" He answered. He opened the door and saw about a dozen Desians.

"Dwarf, have you seen two human adults, a human child and a canine like creature pass through here?" The one with a ridiculous headdress, obviously the leader, asked him.

"Three humans and a canine-like creature? Hmmm…" He looked pensive for a moment before shaking his head. "Nay, haven't seen anybody since three days ago."

"We are going to have to search your house." Another Desian said.

"Sure, be my guest." He said shrugging to hide his fear. The Desians thrashed the place, searching in every nook and cranny…or so they thought.

"Sir, should we search under the floorboards?" One of the Desians asked the leader and the dwarf stiffened.

"No, they must've moved on while we were wasting our time here." The leader said shaking his head. They left, leaving the place completely and totally wrecked.

"That wasn't very nice…assholes." The dwarf huffed with a tick on his eye. He opened the trapdoor after making sure the Desians were gone and let the refugees out. "Ya said ya needed a Key Crest, didn't ya?"

"Yes." The man answered.

"I'll see what I can do."

"Really?" The woman asked.

"Yep. Dwarven Vow number 2: Never abandon someone in need. _Besides…if it will piss those Desians off then I'll do it._" He said and thought the last part.

"Dwarven Vow?" The kid asked. The dwarf nodded and the kid grinned. "Dwarves are cool!"

"Heh, smart kid." The dwarf smiled and got to work. Minutes later the Key Crest was attached to the exsphere on Anna's hand. "There ya go! It's safe to remove that exsphere now." He said and the woman was only too eager to remove it. "I'd keep it if I was you, ya might need it if the Desians are after ya." Anna frowned but pocketed the damn thing.

"How can we repay you mister…?" Kratos started but realized that they hadn't introduced themselves.

"It's Dirk, and don't ya worry about a thing. But you should stay, it's late and your kid looks like he is about ta fall asleep." He said and pointed to the place where Lloyd was cuddling up to Noishe. Kratos bit his lower lip but knew that Anna was tired as well and that stopping for one night wouldn't hurt them much so he reluctantly nodded. As soon as Anna and Lloyd fell asleep, Kratos left to think.

"_Anna is safe, but now what? Keep running till the day that they die? This is no way to raise a child! Lloyd hasn't had a single friend because of this! Wait, Mithos wants the exsphere__, maybe if I give it to him-No! There is no guarantee that he will leave us alone."_ He was so into his thoughts that he didn't sense the mana that signified someone warping.

"You look troubled, Kratos." Someone said behind him and Kratos' sword was instantly in his hands. There stood a fag, I mean, an Angel with blonde hair in a white spandex suit.

"Mithos." Kratos said.

"Kratos, I grow tired of these petty games. Just give me the Angelus Project and we can all get on with our lives." The fag, I mean, Angel said with an air of arrogance.

"Why can't you just leave her alone?!"

"She is just a filthy human!"

"I AM a HUMAN as well!"

"You ceased to be human over four thousand years ago! You are an ANGEL and you serve ME!"

"I serve no one! If you want that damn exsphere then-!"

"You will never have it!" Yelled another voice. Both angels turned and saw Anna standing there trying to look menacing…and doing one hell of a job. Just as fag, ok MITHOS, was about to cast a spell against her he found his way blocked by Kratos.

"Don't you dare lay a hand on my wife!" He yelled looking far more menacing that Anna.

"You MARRIED the Angelus Project?!" Mithos asked shocked.

"Hey, I have a NAME you little FAGGOT!" Anna yelled.

"You're not helping." Kratos whispered in a sing-song voice.

"Shut it! What were you thinking?! You want to leave me and Lloyd alone?!" She yelled again.

"You have a family…" Mithos whispered. "I wish that…I could leave you alone but…you know too much. I'm sorry but…I'm afraid I have to kill you." He said and started to cast again only to be interrupted by soft laughter. They all turned to see the source of the laughter, a boy, not much older than Lloyd, sitting on a tree stump.

"…How amusing. What would you all give to be able to have your wishes come true? You, Mithos Yggdrasill, you, Kratos Aurion, and you, Anna Aurion, would you be willing to give pieces of your past to have a future? I present you a choice, on my right hand there is a path that will lead to the death of two of you and eternal loneliness for the survivor, and on my left hand I hold a path of life for the three of you. What will you choose? The Right hand of the Devil or his Left hand?" He asked and they could practically taste the malicious amusement in his voice.

"We'll take the Left hand." Kratos said immediately. The boy smirked.

"Very well, as soon as I leave I will take pieces of your memories with me. For starters, none of you will remember me. The Aurions will forget that the Desians and the Cruxis are one and the same, that Mithos and Yggdrasill are the same person and that Kratos is a four thousand year old Angel. And you, Mithos, will believe that you erased their memories with the Eternal Sword and allowed them to live in Sylvarant."

"Who are you? And how can you do that?" Kratos asked. The boy's smirk simply widened as he summoned a scythe from the darkness around him.

"I go by many names so it is unimportant. As for how I can do these things…suffice to say that I am far more powerful than you. Now…I can promise you that my…spell…will endure for at least 14 years so, in 14 years I shall return and we will see how things turn out."

"But you said that the Left hand had a path of life for the three of us." Anna said fearfully.

"You should learn that you cannot trust everything that a Devil says." The boy said before he and Yggdrasill vanished. The couple looked around disoriented for a moment.

"Kratos, what are we doing here?" Anna asked.

"I don't know…" Kratos said before shaking his head. "Let's go, Lloyd is probably scared." He said.

* * *

Me: And that's the first chapter. Now, as I said before, I got the inspiration for this story from "Plot Twist" so there will be similarities. I'll try to have the next chapter soon. Read and Review.


	2. Chapter 2

Me: Chapter Two! There's a time skip of 14 years. Sorry about not updating sooner but I've been busy-kana.

Jack: "Kana"?

Me: None of your business-kana.

Mike: Why do you keep saying "kana"?

Me: Because I want, can and will! Now, say the disclaimer-kana!

Jack & Mike: He doesn't own.

Me: Hehehe-kana.

* * *

The Aurion family has settled in the Iselia area. Kratos is a mercenary and Anna works in the "Halo" store. We see Anna watching the store…

"ZZZZZZZ…c'mon Lloyd, eat your tomatoes…" Ok, she is sleeping on the job.

"Anna! Wake up!" Shouted one of Anna's coworkers, who shall be known henceforth as Random Female Non-Player Character 1, designation: 'Sophia'. "If the boss catches you sleeping again he's gonna fire you!" She said exasperated. Anna yawned, rubbed her eyes and stretched her arms.

"That was a good nap." She said. Sophia sighed exasperatedly and fixed Anna with a stern glare.

"Don't you care about your job?! Honestly! This is the third time this week this has happened and it's only Tuesday!" She asked. Anna smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head.

"Sorry, Sophia. It's just that I haven't slept all that well lately." She said and her smile dropped a bit. Sophia sighed again, only this time it wasn't in exasperation but in understanding.

"He left on another job, didn't he?"

"Yeah. I know it's his job and all, but I miss him."

"It'll be ok, Anna." Just as Sophia said that the bell that signified a customer jingled. They turned to the door and saw a man that was taller than Kratos by about six inches and looking like the Grim Reaper, complete with hooded cloak. "Welcome to Halo, how may we help you?" Sophia asked. The man, who had been browsing through the merchandise turned to look at them.

"I would like to purchase some Apple and Orange Gels and Life Bottles." He said.

"How many would you like?"

"Twenty of each."

"Will that be all?"

"Do you sell ingredients?"

"Certainly. We have chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, bread and eggs."

"I'll take 20 of everything except tomatoes and throw in twenty Magic Lenses."

"Very well, wait a moment while I go fetch the ingredients. Anna, can you charge him?" Sophia asked. Anna, who was really close to falling asleep AGAIN (I wonder where Lloyd got his ADD and penchant to fall asleep in important places…not that school matters all that much…please note the sarcasm.), bolted up and nodded with a smile.

"…what do I have to charge him for?" She asked sheepishly. Sophia sighed for the umpteenth time that day and gave the list to Anna. "Ok, that'll be…18600 Gald." The man nodded and took out a rather large money pouch. While he took out the money Anna got bored, so she decided to initiate a conversation. "So…what brings you to Iselia?"

"…Work." He grunted in response. "I am, what you may call, a sword for hire. I was escorting a man to this village so that he might pray at the Martel Temple for continued success in his economic ventures and I thought 'what the hell, let's look around for a while' so I walked around the village for a while but then I remembered that I was running low in supplies because, between the two of us, that guy eats like a pig and keeps running straight into monsters every hundred yards. Now, I'm just restocking before I leave." He said, still counting the Gald. Sophia returned with the requested items in a rather large sack. "You know what, screw it. Here's 20000 and keep the change." He said and dropped the money on the counter. Just as he was about to exit they were all blinded by a bright light coming from the direction of the Temple and while they blinked the spots out of their vision Random Female Non-Player Character 1 (Seeing as Sophia is no longer a random NPC.) barged in.

"Desians! They passed by the school. I think they were headed for the Temple!" She yelled. Anna paled at the news.

"Oh shit, Lloyd!" She yelled.

"Calm down, I'm sure he won't do anything stupid." Sophia tried to calm Anna down, only to have said woman look at her with a raised eyebrow. "Then again, this IS Lloyd we are talking about." She said with a sweat drop.

"You're right. Even LLOYD isn't THAT stupid, right? He wouldn't do something as incredibly idiotic as following the Desians." Anna said with a nervous chuckle at the end.

* * *

"Lloyd, can you tell me again WHY ARE WE FOLLOWING THE DESIANS?!" Asked a pipsqueak with silver hair. A tall teen with brown hair and chocolate brown eyes grinned confidently.

"C'mon Genis, we have to make sure that the Desians don't hurt anybody in the Temple." He said. "And don't worry; if we run into trouble I'll just kick everyone's butts." He said grabbing his left hand. "It would be a shame to waste something my mother gave me, don't ya think?" Genis shook his head and muttered something along the lines of "momma's boy" and got a nice bump on the head for being a smartass. "Besides, Colette has to receive the Oracle. Isn't that right, Colette?" He asked a blonde girl that was looking at the beam of light shooting up from the Temple. She was Colette, daughter of the Mana lineage, Chosen of Mana, the only hope for Sylvarant…

"…It's really bright." A complete and utter airhead. Her friends seem to share my opinion, at least to an extent, because both sweat dropped.

"Shouldn't you act a bit more chosen-like?" Genis asked with a twitch on his right eye.

"Oh, ok." Colette said with a slightly retarded smile. They heard weird noises coming from the Temple and saw a guy in a dress- sorry, a robe (Rolls eyes.) going down the stairs. "Oh no! It's the pastor!" Colette gasped. The pastor says some random things and dies. "I have to go and accept the oracle." She said. Lloyd and Genis decided to accompany her, albeit with a little reluctance on Genis' part, and climbed the stairs to find another guy in a robe, coughdresscough, threatening an old woman.

"Where is the Chosen?" The guy with the spiky hair asked. Now, a normal, INTELLIGENT, person would've remained quiet and then Spiky would probably get bored and leave…

"Run, Colette!"…must run in the family…

"Chosen One, your life is mine." Am I the only one that thinks that this sentence sounds so wrong in so many ways?

"I won't let you Desians get away with anything." Lloyd said while unsheathing his "swords" (I have a branch in my house that looks more dangerous than that...).

"He thinks we are Desians." One of them said cryptically. Lloyd and Co. had 'WTF' expressions and instead of being nice little antagonists and explaining what the fuck was going on they laughed. "Well then, die at the hands of the Desians you so hate…GET THEM!" Another one of them yelled. 2 minutes later the "Desians" that were still alive ran with their tails between their legs behind a giant soldier. "Do not get in our way." Kind of late for that, don't ya think? 30 seconds later Lloyd and Co. were kneeling injured.

"Damn it." Lloyd grunted. The BDSM freak (Admit It.) prepared to hit him with his spiky ball of DOOM (Kidding.) and Lloyd closed his eyes. Instead of feeling a lot of pain he heard the sound of metal against metal and a rather loud "thump" noise. He opened his eyes and there stood the coolest guy in the whole freaking game… "Dad?"

"…Stay back, Lloyd." Kratos said. Exactly 26.2 seconds later the BDSM freak was dead (I never understood that…I reached that guy with Lloyd at level twelve and you can't defeat him, but Kratos joins at level four or so and you can win very easily…weird.) and the guy with the…uh…robe, yeah that, orders the retreat. Kratos turns to look at the party. "Are you alright? Hmmm, no one appears to be hurt." Genis, who had never actually seen Kratos began jumping like he had a giant tarantula walking on his crotch…bad visual, sorry.

"Is this your dad, Lloyd?" Yeah, he kind of established that already. Lloyd, deciding to be intelligent for once, ignored the little pest and turned to talk to awesomeness incarnate.

"Dad, when did you get back? Did you finish your job?" He questioned his father.

"The client decided to cancel, so I came here. I just arrived now, to be honest." Kratos answered. They were talking so comfortably that they didn't notice one of the "Desians" was still alive and was about to stab Colette to finish the mission until it was too late. The guy would have succeeded if not for the throwing knife that became lodged in his cervical vertebrae. They followed the most likely trajectory and saw the same guy Anna met earlier with his hand still in a throwing position. "Who are you?" Kratos asked with a hand on the handle of his sword. As far as he knew, he just killed the "Desian" to kill Colette himself. The man relaxed his posture and looked at them with a smirk.

"Give me your name and I'll give you mine." He replied with a somewhat arrogant smirk. Lloyd barely resisted the urge to punch the tall guy.

"My name is Kratos." Kratos said, still not dropping his guard.

"Well, I am a man of my word. My name is Damian." He said removing his hood. Genis and Colette gasped when they saw that he wore an eye patch over his right eye. They assumed that he had lost that eye based on the vicious looking scar that snaked from his forehead to his jaw. Speaking of snakes, they were more shocked when they saw that the pupil of his exposed eye was vertical like a reptile's. "If you are done staring at my face, I am a…sword for hire. For 40000 Gald and a place to stay I will accompany the Chosen to accept the Oracle. So, what say you?" He asked still with the same smirk.

* * *

Me: There-kana.

Jack: Stop with the fucking "kana"!

Me: Never! You can't stop me-kana!

Damian: Why are you saying "kana", my Master?

Me: If you simply MUST know…I've been watching "Higurashi no naku koro ni" and one of my favorite characters of the series says it constantly-kana.

Damian: Fair enough. Read and Review.


	3. Chapter 3

Me: Chapter three! And I must say…this story has had more acceptance in the first chapters than Ocarina of Death.

Jack: Yeah! Three reviews in two chapters? Hell, we had one per chapter starting on chapter 7 or so.

Me: Yeah…I feel so warm and fuzzy inside…I feel I'm gonna be sick…

Jack: Shit! Mike; let's start this crap so he won't puke on us or something!

Mike: Very well.

Jack & Mike: He doesn't own Tales of Symphonia.

Me: Begin...

* * *

Last time, Lloyd and Co. got their asses handed to them by a BDSM freak and were saved by the awesomeness that is Kratos. Then the airhead (Colette) was saved by a sword for hire calling himself Damian who offered his services in protecting her. Let's see their answer…

"As things stand we have little choice…please be of assistance." Colette's grandmother answered. Damian smirked and nodded.

"A wise decision, priestess. Oh, that's right. Was a rather fat man among the casualties of this little skirmish?" He asked as he looked around. "Oh, wait. I found him…or at least a piece of him." He said and raised a severed and rather chubby hand with many jeweled rings. He shrugged before removing and pocketing the rings and discarding the hand. He turned to see the rest of them looking at him with "WTF is wrong with you?!" expressions. "What? Do I have something on my face?"

"How could you do something like that?! Wasn't he your friend?!" Lloyd asked indignantly. Damian's first reaction was a bit unexpected…he laughed.

"M-m-my friend?! Hahahahaha! That's a laugh. No, he was NOT my friend or even an acquaintance. He was a client whose contract ended the moment he set foot on the village. I take pride in always finishing my missions…what happens to the client AFTER I have fulfilled my end of the contract is none of my concern. Besides…I don't think these will do him much good in the afterlife, don't you agree? Don't worry, your friend is in good hands…at least until she receives the Oracle." He said and his smirk turned colder. "I have been called a **Coldhearted Mercenary** by my…peers." (Damian has gained the title **Coldhearted Mercenary**: "My job ends the moment I'm paid…I don't care what happens to the client afterwards.")

"I am a little reluctant to leaving the Chosen alone with this man. I also accept the job of guarding the Chosen." Kratos said with a mistrustful look on his eyes. He had never heard of a mercenary that never fails a mission.

"If dad is going, I'm going too." Lloyd said.

"You'll only get in the way, kid." Damian said. Lloyd glared at him. "Oooohhhhh, scary. Listen kid, this isn't a game. I was hired to protect the _Chosen_ and her alone. You want to come? You do so under your own risk"

"Gotcha, then I'll just have to follow you on my own." Lloyd said with a smirk. Damian gave a short bark of laughter.

"I like ya kid, you got guts. What's your name?"

"The name's Lloyd. Remember it. C'mon Genis!" Lloyd yelled and completely ignored the little pest.

"Lloyd, huh? Tell me something, Lloyd. Are your "sword" skills self taught?" Damian asked once they entered the Temple. Lloyd nodded. "I thought so. I mean, there are few people in the world that use twinblades or two of any weapon. I, for one, prefer knives or daggers when I don't need something with a bit more punch." Damian and Lloyd continued to make small talk. They killed the few monsters that they encountered easily enough. "See, Lloyd? If you stab the Zombies in between the eyes they fall more easily that if you hack and slash like a madman. That or the cervical vertebrae." At Lloyd's blank look Damian sighed. "The back of the neck. Especially where the head and the neck articulate. That's a SKZ…a Sure Kill Zone." He explained. Kratos was not too happy about Lloyd learning how to kill, but understood that that knowledge could prove useful sometime in the future. They went down a flight of stairs and saw the Sorcerer's Ring. "Now, how to get there…" Damian muttered before they heard Colette yelp. "What the-?! Shit!" He yelled when he saw Colette being attacked by a Golem. Now, I take pride in using my logic, so…big clay monster plus puny blond airhead equals failed mission for a mercenary hired to protect said blond. That would explain why he yelled and almost immediately rushed the Golem with two wicked looking daggers he got out of his sleeves. Lloyd and Co. ran right after him. Again, let's do math…BIG CLAY MONSTER plus wicked looking daggers minus neck, arteries, heart, etcetera equals really pissed of mercenary. (I mean, COME ON! How can you kill a monster made out of hardened clay with two sticks, a pair of Frisbees and 3 feet of steel?! The magic bit I can understand but, COME ON!)

"This is not working! We would need a hammer or something big to really harm this thing." Lloyd yelled after barely avoiding a punch by the Golem. Damian snarled and jumped on the Golem's "head" and plunged his left dagger in the joint between the left arm and the shoulder. The Golem didn't feel that but it could tell that someone was standing on its shoulder and punched there with its other fist. Let us think for a moment…a dagger in the joint with the handle pointing upwards, a man agile enough to get there in the first place and a 200+ pound fist traveling at moderate velocity…yep, the Golem got crippled! "What?! How did the monster lose its arm?!" Lloyd asked. Genis and Colette looked similarly stunned and Kratos looked impressed.

"I see…he used the monster's own strength against it." He murmured. The younger members of the party looked at him with WTF expressions that caused him to sigh. "He placed the dagger in a position where it would act like a lever so that when the Golem attempted to strike him it would hit the dagger with enough force to separate that arm from the body." He explained. The younglings looked back at the battle to see that the Golem was a block of clay now. They looked around and saw Damian kneeling on the floor clutching his midsection.

"Ah, shit! That bitch got a lucky shot before I managed to damage it enough to exhaust the magic that powers it." He said. Colette walked to him only to trip and push the block into a hole. They all looked at her, then the block that fit into a groove in the pathway below. Damian stood up and stretched a bit. "Looks like the Chosen found a way to the Ring. If I'm not mistaken, another Golem should appear right about…now." He said and, sure enough, another Golem appeared. "You, the white haired kid, you're a mage, right?" Genis nodded. "If you know any Water spells use them, that's the weakness of all Golems." Genis nodded again and used Aqua Edge. The rest of the Golems were dealt with without major complications except for the last one that got a clean shot at Damian's midsection which actually made him cough blood. After the Golem was dealt with they gathered around Damian, who was doubled over and swearing like a sailor. "Fuck! Three broken ribs and a bruised stomach, just dandy." He looked up and saw everyone looking at him with worry. "What? It's just a flesh wound. I've had worse. Let's just continue and get this shit over with." He said while he straightened up and began walking down the stairs. They got the Sorcerer's Ring and unsealed the door at the entrance to the Temple. They used the warp pad and there in the altar was a shiny…actually…it's just a glow. After some small talk a blond man with wings appeared in a flash of light. After boring speech number one, the Tower of Salvation appears and Remiel (the Angel) claimed to be Colette's father. No one but Kratos noticed that Damian clenched his right hand into a fist when Remiel said this. After Remiel disappeared Damian walked to the warp circle. "We should get going, Chosen. You need to get home and I need to get paid." He said. Colette nodded and waved goodbye at Lloyd, Kratos and Genis before stepping on the circle.

"Do you think we did the right thing in leaving her alone with that guy?" Genis asked Lloyd. Lloyd shrugged.

"If she is not alive and well when he goes to collect his fee, I doubt they would pay him. He will protect her…at least until he gets paid. Right, dad?" He asked Kratos who nodded.

"Lloyd is right. (To the bunker!) He has no way of proving that Colette received the Oracle without her or our testimony so, since he has no way of knowing if we would vouch for him, it's easier and safer for him to protect her." He calmly explained hiding his own reluctance. _"I hope I'm not making a mistake."_ While Lloyd and Genis get punished by Raine for escaping school let's go to with Colette and Damian. They are currently walking in silence through the path to Iselia and Colette is a little unnerved by this.

"…I'm sorry." She says. Now Damian looked at her and raised an eyebrow in clear questioning manner. "I must have done something bad to make you mad at me." She said. Damian sighed.

"What makes you think I'm mad at you, Chosen?" He asked.

"You barely look at me, you don't talk and you keep calling me Chosen." She said.

"I'm not mad at you…Colette, right?" He asked and she nodded. "It's just that I normally don't fraternize with the clients. It makes it harder to complete the mission. Especially a suicide mission like the Journey of Regeneration." She gasped and he smirked a bit. "I mean, no Chosen has completed the Journey in 800 years. That makes it a suicide mission in my and every other mercenary's book." He said. They walked the rest of the way in silence. They arrived a few minutes later at Colette's house. They entered and were greeted by Colette's grandmother and father and a fat fellow with gray hair. "Well, here she is. Safe and sound as promised. Now, I'll take my money and leave. You can forget about the place to stay clause." He said. He took the money pouch that Frank offered him and turned to leave.

"Wait!" The fat guy yelled. Damian turned his head to look at him. "Would you be interested in the job of protecting the Chosen during the Journey of Regeneration?"

"No. It's too long a job, with a million possibilities of going wrong and me losing not only my reputation as a mercenary who never fails but a limb or my life. Besides, it cost you 40000 Gald to hire me for a couple of hours, who much do you think it would cost you to hire me full time during a period of several months? You could bankrupt this village a thousand times and it still wouldn't be enough. So, if you will excuse me, I have places to go, people to see…things to kill." He said smirking at the end and left. Frank, Phaidra and Colette looked at each other confused while the fat guy shivered in his seat.

* * *

Me: Not my best, but it will do.

Jack: Well, at least you stopped with the fucking "Kana"

Me: Oh, I am just resting for now…

Jack: Shit!

Mike: Read and Review.


	4. Chapter 4

Me: Chapter 4…

Jack: What's up with you?

Me: I have tried and tried to write this chapter for the last two months, ever since my birthday (which is in June) in fact. And it just doesn't want to come out.

Mike: But, you're writing now, does that mean you have overcome your block?

Me: No. It means that I'm trying to overcome it by forcing the floodgates open.

Jack: Just make sure you don't flood us. We all know that drowning would suck.

Me: Just say the disclaimer…

Jack & Mike: He doesn't own.

Me: I have to overcome this!

* * *

"Exactly how did we end in this situation, again, Genis?" Lloyd asked his silver haired friend before cursing and dodging a stab by a Bandit. Genis stumbled on the sandy ground and that saved him from a slash from another Bandit.

"Whatever do you mean, Lloyd? Do you mean fighting these Bandits? Or do you mean with us EXILED FROM ISELIA?!" Genis asked yelling at the end while simultaneously roasting three bandits. You see, Lloyd and Genis where indeed exiled, but I'm getting ahead of the story. It all started…yesterday, on the Day of the Oracle. Lloyd and Genis accompanied their friend Colette, the Chosen One, to the Martel Temple near Iselia, there they fought a group of "Desians" and where saved first by Lloyd's dad, Kratos, and then by a mercenary they didn't know named Damian. Both mercenaries accepted the job of protecting Colette until she received an Oracle from Heaven. After she received the Oracle, she and Damian left so she could return home and he could get paid. Lloyd and Co. left shortly after them and learned a very important lesson…don't skip school if you have a chance of seeing the teacher during that time. When they arrived at Iselia, first of all, they went to greet Lloyd's mom…

_Flashback…_

_Anna was asleep again and drooling on the counter when she heard the bell of the door chime. She raised her head to greet the customers. "Welcome to…yawn…Halo. What can I help you with?" She asked with her eyes half closed._

"…_If I didn't know better, I would've thought I was telling Lloyd to go to school…" Kratos said with a sweat drop. Anna immediately opened her eyes._

"_Krattie! (I have to slap myself later for writing this for the awesomeness that's Kratos…) You're back!" She yelled and hugged Kratos so hard that Lloyd could swear he heard Kratos' spine crack._

"_Mom! You're killing him!" Lloyd yelled. Anna looked up and saw that Kratos was making a herculean effort not to cry in pain. (Bad author (slaps) Bad.) She smiled sheepishly and released him._

"_Yes, Anna. I'm back. The client canceled and I came back as soon as I could." Kratos said. They spent some time talking until Lloyd started complaining (Read: Whining) that he wanted to see if Colette got back alright._

_Flashback end…_

Colette was indeed alright and they found out, much to their shock, that Damian refused the job of guarding her. Lloyd volunteered but was shot down by Kratos who told him that he was to young and inexperienced to take a job like that. Kratos and Raine were appointed as guards for her. Lloyd left for his home accompanied by Genis. Genis insisted on taking a detour to visit a friend of his who turned out to be a prisoner of the Human Ranch near Iselia named Marble. A lot of whining by Genis and a couple dead guards by Lloyd later found Lloyd outside his home deeper in the forest where something…interesting was happening at the time…

_Flashback…_

"_AH! PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!" Lloyd heard his mom scream. Moments later she was joined by Dirk's voice yelling something about bears or beards or something like that. He entered to see his mom and Dirk fighting something flaming on the stove._

"_What's wrong with ya, Anna?! Ya wanta burn the bloody house down?!" Dirk asked._

"_No, I just wanted to prepare something special for Kratos, since he leaves tomorrow on the Journey of Regeneration." She answered._

"_Do humans consider burning the house down special?" Dirk mumbled to himself._

_Flashback end…_

After that…amusing…incident Lloyd asked Dirk to make him a Key Crest to save Marble form the negative aspects of her exsphere. Dirk nearly bashed Lloyd's teeth in after hearing he went to the Ranch. Lloyd went outside and saw his friends and his dad standing there. Lloyd and Colette had a touching moment in the terrace and Colette asked him to go to the village at noon. Lloyd woke up in the morning to find the house empty. He wandered around the kitchen until he spotted a letter from his mother…

_Flashback (Just the letter)…_

_Lloyd…_

_When you read this I will already be gone. I have decided that I can't stand in the sidelines while your father risks his life to Regenerate the world, so I will follow them. I know we told you that you couldn't go and that you are probably mad at me for telling you that and doing exactly what I told you not to. When we get back I promise I'll make Dwarven Pot Luck Surprise since you seem to like it so much, Martel knows why…Anyway, see you soon!_

_Mom._

_PS. Eat your tomatoes while I'm gone Lloyd!_

_Flashback end…_

Now, understandably, Lloyd was pissed. First they tell him that he couldn't go and then they went and did it! He stormed out of the house only to bump into Dirk, who was supposed to watch (babysit) him. Dirk, seeing the expression on Lloyd's face, just gave him a prepared bag for the trip and the Key Crest he wanted. Just as Lloyd was about to leave he was interrupted by Genis this time. After a lot of yelling, threatening and running, they arrived at Colette's house in Iselia. There Lloyd received yet another letter which caused him to wander…does anybody even says things to each other's faces anymore? Soon after he finished reading the will…err…letter; there was a blast outside Colette's house. While Lloyd and Genis dealt with that, Anna had her own problems…

_Flashback…_

"_Ah Shit!" Anna yelled as she stabbed the saber she kept for emergencies back home in the head of a Wolf that was attacking her. "Damn it! They went south if I remember but I've been traveling for a while and I haven't found them!" She yelled at the heavens. She kept walking until she heard a sound that made her blood run cold… "SNAKES!" She screamed in fright as she ran as fast as her legs would carry her. "I HATE SNAKES!"_

_Flashback end…_

Back to Lloyd and Genis, they defeated a monster that Forcystus, the leader of the local human ranch, took to Iselia. When Forcystus tried to kill them, the monster sacrificed itself to save Lloyd and Genis revealing itself to be a horribly mutated Marble. Soon everybody in the village and the Mayor blamed Lloyd for taking the Desians there. And that is how Lloyd and Genis found themselves exiled and started their own journey south to join Colette and atone for the lives of those who died because of them by aiding in the Regeneration.

* * *

Me: There, short and crappy, but it's done. Please read and if you review don't mention the crappiness of this chapter because I know it sucks. I just never really liked the beginning of ToS. Until next time!


End file.
